Rest Your Security on the One Who Never Perishes

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Guru Arjan opens this song by speaking straight to the worried heart. The One never ends, so what is there to be anxious about?

Parabh abhinaasee taa ki-aa kaarhaa — God is eternal, so why worry? Abhinaasee means the One who can never be destroyed. It's almost a gentle scolding of worry itself. The reason is simple and steadying. The One you belong to doesn't end, doesn't break and can't be lost. If your safety rested on things that break, worry would make sense. But it rests on the One who never breaks. So worry loses the ground it stood on.

The second line adds plenty to forever: har bhagvantaa taa jan kharaa sukhaalaa — the Lord is rich in every good thing, so His servant can rest easy. The One isn't a stingy or struggling provider. The stores never run out. A child in a loving home with a full fridge doesn't lie awake worrying there won't be dinner. The servant's safety isn't in their own savings. It is in the endless riches of the One they serve.

The last line names the deepest step of all: too karahi so-ee sukh paavni-aa — whatever You do, in that I find peace. Peace isn't found by arranging the world the way I like. It is found by trusting the hand that arranges it. This is bhaanaa, gladly accepting the One's will. Much of our worry is the tiring effort to control how things turn out. This verse offers the opposite: peace inside whatever comes. The One who sends it never ends, has plenty for all, and is the sukh-daata, the Giver of peace, of life and of honor. You stop bracing against the current, and find it was carrying you all along.